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ANCIENT AMERICA. 



19TH EDITION. 



REFERENCES 



From the Courier. 

Nkw-York, March 31,* 1847. 
The stibscril)er liiiviii^ heard wilh-imich pleasure the Lectures on the "Antiquities 
of America," delivered by Professor Davis before the Pupils, Teachers and Professors 
of our Seminary, cheerfully recommends the same to the citizens of this city. 

.T. F. SCIIROEDER, Rector of St. Ann's Hall. 



We are also happy in joininq in the above recomn'iendation. 

HON. .JOHN DUER, 
HON. MURRAY HOFFMAN, 
MA.TOR GEN. EDMUND P. GAINES^ 
STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 
G. SPRING, D. D. 
HENRY P. TAPPAN, D. D. 



Translation of a letter in French, from C. Canda, Esq. 

To Professor Davis. 
Dear Sir : —I cannot resist the desire to express to you the extreme satisfaction 
which the Lectures you delivered at our Institution. Lafayette Place, has given us, 
on the Antiquities of America in general, and those of Central America in particular. 
These Lectures, delivered with a persuasive and impressive eloquence, have given our 
young pupils much enjoyment. The judicious observations, and elevated reflections, 
have excited their interest, and caused them to study more attentively the subject, 
which you rendered so attractive, and which arrested their attention. 

Pray receive our thanks and the assurance of our high respect, 

CHARLES CANDA. 
Lafayette Place, New-York, June 9, 1846. 

Another communication was received from Mr. C., signed, also, by fifty young 
ladies of Madame Canda's celebrated Boarding School, highly recommending the 
above Lectures. 





AITIQUITIES OF AMERICA, 

THE FIRST INHABITANTS 

OF 

CENTRAL AMERICA 

AND THE 

DISCOVERY OF NEW-ENGLAND, 
i i BY THE NORTHMEN, 

FIVE HUIfREI^ YEARS BEFORE COLUMBUS. 

\ 

LECTURES 

Delivered In Wevr-Yoi*li, Wasliino-ton, Boston, and otlier cities. Tlie first 

Ixas been ajiven eisfliteen times in tlie most di$tin«^uislied 

"institntlons of !V'e\y-York: and Brooli- 



lyn tSie past year. 



BY A. DAVIS, 






Corresponding Member of the New-York Historical Society, and formerly Chaplain of the 
Senate of New-York. 



lOfcli EDITION, WITH IMPORTANT ADDITIONS. 



^ N E W-Y O R K : 

DA KIEL ADE5. PRINTER, 107 FULTON-STRBET. 
18 47. 



\ 



V\^w VvV ' V>,V . 



^'•:3 




OLD STONE TOWER, AT NEWPORT, R. I. 



ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA. 



If, in presenting the following facts, derived from various and im- 
portant sources, and gathered by years of study, I should throw one 
ray of light on the darkness of the past, my feeble efforts will be 
more benehcial than the most fascinating effulgence thrown over the 
writings of misguided genius. 



While the beauties of the visible creation fade on the eye, while 
nature reposes under the mantle of night,. it is pleasant to leave the 
haunts of business, or domestic scenes, and come up to the lecture room 
to survey the dark scenes of the past under the mild light of history. 

If in the following remarks I should not regale my readers with 
" apples of gold in pictures of silver," it will not be for want of merit 
in my subject — the Desolations of Time ; for on them nations are 
gazing. 

If the age of Leo X. was characterised by great attention to the 
fine arts, so the present is remarkable, not only for its devotion to 
the embellishments of life, but for progress in historical and anti- 
quarian researches. The most gifted minds of either sex are in- 
terested in these studies. The crowned heads of Europe, instead of 
imbruing their hands in the blood of their fellows, are spending 
mints of money in unfolding the early history of the world."* 
That spirit of inquiry which awoke, perhaps, in the East, folds not 
its wings in apathy in crossing the Atlantic ; for here its develop- 
ments astonish both hemispheres. Knowledge is spreading over the 
earth, not like the morning beams, which gild only the mountain 
tops, but like the noon-tide rays, that penetrate the deep valleys.f 

The active mind of man instinctively surveys the dark regions 
of the past, and would gladly break the unfathomable silence of the 
nations of the dead, and raise the veil where their beauty and glory 
have slept for ages. This strong desire to learn something of those 
who lived when time w^as young, leads the antiquary, too often, to 
adopt groundless theories. But if there are counterfeit antiquities 
there are those also that are genuine. 

It will be recollected that the avaricious Spaniards discovered and 
conquered Mexico in the North, and Peru and Chili on the South 
of Central America, in the first place. But at length the solitude 
of the latter was broken ; and there was discovered the '• El Dora- 
do," about which the whole Spanish nation had so long been dreaming. 

" The Kint^ of Prussia has lately established a professorship of Egyptian antiquities. 

jThe following just tribute of praise was given by Mr. Davis, in his lecture, University Chapel, 
N. Y., to the Historical Society, in speaking of the progress of antiquarian research : 

"And are there not more stars in the Northern than in the Southern hemisi)here ? So there are 
more constellations of intellectual light in the former than in the latter. And one of the most 
conspicuous is the Historical Society of New-York. The light beams afar, and by its influence 
prominent men from foreign countries are being enrolled among the names of its distinguished 
members." 



4 A LECTURE ON THE 

The appearance of these ruins shows that a nation once existed 
there, highly skilled in the mechanic arts, and in a state of civili- 
zation far beyond any thing that we have been led to believe of the 
aborigines; previous to the time of Columbus. 

The antiquities of America may be divided into three classes, 
left in succession by nations more or less enlightened ; as the ruins of 
Central America, of Mexico and Peru, and of regions farther North. 

Tlie first knowledge of the ruins, South, was derived from ac- 
counts given by straggling hunters. 

In 1787, the Spanish government sent out Captain Del Rio to 
survey the ruins. 

Waldeck, in 1S22, published in London an account of Rio's dis- 
coveries. 

Capt. Dupaix was sent on a mission to Central America in 1S05. 
He supposes the ruins were left before the deluge. Lord Kings - 
boro' gave an account of Dupaix's researches. His work I saw in 
the Library of a distinguished historian, Wm. H. Prescott, Esq., 
Boston. This splendid work^ at $400 a volume, cost the author 
his fortune. 

Waldeck visited Central America in 1S32, and spent 4 years in 
that region. He took many drawings of the ruins, but on his re- 
turn they were seized by the perfidious Mexicans. 

On losing the fruits of his long toil; he must have felt like An- 
tony on being betrayed by Cleopatra : 

" All is lost ! 
This foul Egyptian has betrayed me ; 
My fleet hatli yielded to the toe ; 
Fortune and Antony part here ; even here 
Do we shake hands." 

The late Governor Galindo, of Peten, in Central America, has 
corresponded with the late Lieut. Governor Winthrop, Boston, rela- 
tive to the antiquities of that region. For the great discoveries 
made, he ha-s received a premium from one of the literary spcieties 
of Europe. 

He, in speaking of one of the cities in tlie vicinity of Palenque. 
says that a gigantic Massica, or bread-fruit tree, grows on one of 
the altars, encircling it with its powerful roots. The most remark- 
able trees growing over the ruins, are the mahogany, cedar, choco- 
lafce, &c. One of the squares of the city is surrounded with six 
handsome obelisks, the highest of which is more than six yards high. 
Tiiey all bear, in basso-relievo, gigantic figures. One temple has 
eiglity such figures. 

Tlie temple of Copan was 653 feet by 524 feet in dimensions. 
It must have been as large as St. Peter's Church in Rome, Let us 
gaze on this mighty structure for instruction. It stands as a land- 
mark on the broad field of time. — it reminds us of the remote ori- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. O 

gin of a great empire. Centuries must have rolled away, dynas- 
ties must have succeeded each other, before orders of architecture 
were introduced ; and a long time must have elapsed before an em- 
pire would become so luxurious as to erect the stupendous temple 
of Copan. 

Among the vast pile of ruins is found an architrave of black gran- 
ite, finely cut. Six granite columns are seen, each of a single piece 
seventeen feet high, and three feet in diameter. 

The Mayon architecture in Yucatan is said to be superior to 
that of Palenque. It is wrought in stone, and finished with great 
elegance. 

Gen. Santa Anna says, that the antiquities of Central America are 
worthy of being placed in parallel with the pyramids of Egypt. 

Palenque, which lies 240 miles from Tobasco, lat. 17^ N., is among 
the most remarkable cities of the South. Palenque is a Castilian 
word, and means '"' lists for fighting." 

This city has been emphatically called the Thebes of America. In 
surveying its ruins, the traveler is led to believe that it was founded 
at as early a period as the renowned cities of Egypt. 

How immense the city ! It is supposed to have been sixty miles in 
circumference, and that it contained a population of nearly three 
millions. 

Palenque, lying about one thousand miles from Mexico, and being 
elevated five thousand feet above the ocean, enjoyed a climate almost 
unequaled for its pleasantness. The natural beauty of the scenery 
was unrivaled, and the soil rich and fertile beyond any other portion 
of the globe. 

One of the principal structures revealed to the eye of the antiqua- 
rian, is the Teoculi, or temple. Its style of architecture resembles 
the Gothic, It is rude, massive, and durable. Though resembling 
^the Egyptian edifices, also, yet this and the other buildings are pecu- 
liar, and are different from all others hitherto known. 

The entrance to this temple is on 'the east side, by a portico more 
than one hundred feet in length, and nine broad. The rectangular 
pillars of the portico have their architraves adorned with stucco work 
of shields and other devices. The temple stands on an elevation of 
sixty feet. Among the ruins different objects of worship have been 
found ; and in particular, an idol of pure gold about six inches long. 
Amid this wilderness of ruins are now to be seen fourteen large stone 
buildings, with many of their apartments in good condition. 

The antiquity of this city is manifest, not only from its nameless 
hieroglyphics and other objects, but from the age of some of the trees 
growing over buildings where once the hum of industry and the voice 
of merriment were heard. The concentric circles of some of these 
trees were counted, which showed that they were more than 900 years 
of age. Mr. Brown, who lives in the vicinity of Palenque, has a 
table, the entire leaf of which was made from a tree growing over 
these ruins. 



O A LECTURE ON THE 

Similar beautiful and majestic ruins extend 1000 miles. Hum- 
boldt visited a splendid building, 800 miles from Mexico, that forty 
years since was seven stories liig'h. The Spaniards have demolished 
it mostly to get materials for building dwellings and sugar-houses. 
Have not the Vandals of the New World made desolation more des- 
olate ? 

Mr. Stephens' new work on " Central America" confirms the state- 
ments of other travelers, while it heightens our wonder by the graphic 
description of the ruins of the desolated cities^ especially of those 
found in Copan and Palenque. There, he says, " arcliitecture, sculp- 
ture, painting, and all the arts that embellish life, had flourished in 
an overf>:rown forest." 

Among the specimens of the arts, he found massive obelisks bear- 
ing on their sides sculptured images, and medallion tablets — large 
altars, ornamented with hieroglyphics giving a record of those 
who reared them — splendid templeS; adorned with human figures exe- 
cuted in stucco and bass relief — walls built of hewn stone. The 
specimens of sculpture equaled any thing he saw in Egypt. 

In his second work he says, " These ruins are skeletons rising from 
their graves, wrapt in their shrouds, claiming no affinity with the 
works of any known people." Long will these works of art stand 
alone in majesty and beauty, 

" And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer." 

The late Chevalier Fridrichstchal, attache of the Austrian legation, 
lately spent nine months at the South. He found, in a place hitherto 
untrod by modern travelers, a majestic group of pillars. There were 
ten rows, and in each row there were forty-eight columns. With his 
Daguerreotype apparatus, he took a great number of excellent im- 
pressions. From these when magnified, he has made drawings, which 
show the original, by their richness, elegance, and finish, to be the work 
of a highly cultivated people. 

Mr. Norman has published -a valuable work, " Rambles in Yuca- 
tan," lat. 20° North. I have seen some of his remarkable antiqui- 
ties, as Penates, hieroglyphics on lime stone, the material of these 
buildings. He kindly gave me a piece of Zuporte wood from lintels 
found amid the ruins. It is hard, fine, heavy, and as lasting as time. 
Beautiful were the architecture and paintings he saw. The latter 
was in fresco, and as fresh apparently as if recently executed. The 
colors were sky blue and light green. Mr. N. thinks the cities of the 
South are of very remote origin ] that they were antiquities before 
the Christian era. 

It is natural that we should linger around these inanimate objects. 
They remind us of splendid cities that, like Troy, once '' were." — 
But, above all, they tell us of the illustrious of other days. What 
are ruins to us, but as they remind us of the enterprise and wisdom 
of those who reared them. What were Carthage without the recol- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



lection of the ill-fated Dido, or the daring deeds of Hannibal ? And 
what will Mount Vernon he, centuries lience, to our posterity, but as 
it will remind them of the valor, patriotism, and virtues of the Father 
of our Republic. 

The monumental history of Central America tells us that this i« 
not a New World. And we awake with astonishment that there was 
once the seat of a great empire, before David reigned over the 
twelve tribes of Israel, or Octavius waved his sceptre over the civil- 
ized world. 

But alas! the foundation of cities as magnificent as those tha*fc 
adorned the banks of the Nile, have vanished like the generations 
before the flood. 

" Every house is builded by some man," but who erected the splen- 
did temples of Palenque, none can tell, save '' He who made all 
things." Unnumbered centuries have passed away since the noon-day 
of Palencian glory. There the wing of endless night broods over all 
that was once beautiful and grand — 

" Where senates once the weal of nations planned 
Hisseth the glidmg snake, through hoaiy weeds 
That clasp the mouldering columns." 

'^- I have seen an original representation in stucco of the following 
Palencian head, possibly a representation of one of their gods, in the 
possession of the late Professor Dod, Princeton College. Such are 
found on. the palace walls : 



Shade of Spurz- 
heim, tell if thou 
canst, what quali- 
ties such a formed 
head as this im- 
plies ! 




This helmet 
is said to re- 
semble those 
described by 
Homer. 



b A LECTURE ON THE 

Oh ! that some mighty genius, like that of Belzoni, would arise 
and remove from this city of the world called new, the veil that con- 
ceals its origin. 

It is supposed by Stephens and Norman that the hieroglyphics of 
the South, will, like those of Egypt, at length be developed. In an- 
ticipation of those dev elopements, well may we exclaim, "visions of 
glory spare our aching sight." Deep shades rest on the antiquities of 
America, yet a few feeble rays of light enliven the gloom. 

That spirit of inquiry that animates all classes in our country may 
yet lead to the reading of the dark characters of the South, as Dr. 
Lepsius of Prussia, a disciple of Champolion, has deciphered the hiero- 
glyphics of Egypt, Champolion saw on the Rosetta stone three in- 
scriptions — the Greek, the Demelic and the Hieroglyphic ; by reading 
the two former he was enabled to decipher the latter. 

It is supposed that this city was destroyed by some internal convul- 
sion, or, like those of the South of Europe, was overwhelmed by the 
barbarians of the North. 

Possibly famine or pestilence might have, desolated that fair region. 
It is not singular that it should have been concealed from view for 
ages, when we recollect that cities of the eastern continent have, in 
like manner remained in oblivion till of late. We allude to the 
ruins of P^estum, in Campania, of Italy, and those of Petra of Idu- 
mea, in Asia. A new forest, hid for centuries — the former from the 
degenerate sons of Rome, while the splendid structures of Petra were 
known only to Bedouins for over a thousand years. Who does not 
delight to read about the roses of Pjsstum ? Yet they still unfold 
their inimitable petals amid the ruins of palaces, and beside the di- 
lapidated temples. 

; Do we admire the boundless forests, the lofty mountains, and the 
majestic rivers of our hemisphere? The vast wilderness of ruins, 
once enlivened by intelligent beings, should demand a higher claim 
to our admiration. 

The antiquities of America stretch from the great lakes o:f the 
North and West, to the southern parts of Peru ; from the Allegany 
mountains on the East, to the Rocky mountains on the West j and 
even from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. 



The Mexicans hold the next place in the scale of civilization to 
the Central Americans. 

The Toltecs probably came into Anahuac, or the vale of Mexico, 
at the close of the seventh century. They flourished four centuries, 
and suddenly disappeared. They were an enlightened and amiable 
people. Though pagans, they did not, like the Aztecs, who took pos- 
session of the country in 1325, oifer up human sacrifices. 

Although the Aztecs, or Mexicans, excelled in astronomy, archi- 
tecture, the fine arts, agriculture, legislation, jurisprudence, and the 
display of many of those social virtues that dignify humanity, yet 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 9 

their theology cast a dark_^ shade over all the attractions their history 
otherwise displays. 

They believed in one Supreme God, in thirteen subordinate deities, 
and over two hundred inferior ones. The God who received the most 
devotion, was Mars their god of war. On his altar human victims 
bled. To this Moloch of the West, twenty thousand at least were 
offered annually ! Such is man where fie sees not the attributes of 
God in the " things that are made." Yes, all nature is but the re- 
flection of the true God. The modest violet, fresh from the sleep of 
winter, tells him there is a God, and that He is great and good. — 
[See Rom., 1. 20.] Nought but the bright beams of the " Sun of 
Righteousness" can dissipate the darkness with which man has en- 
shrouded his moral nature. 

Remarkable was the progress of the Mexicans in the science of 
astronomy. Their year was divided into eighteen months of twenty 
days each ; and five unlucky days. As the year, is composed of nearly 
six hours more than three hundred and sixty-five days, there still re- 
mained an excess, which they provided for by intercalation. At the 
expiration of fifty-two years, the end of a cycle, they interposed twelve 
and a; half days, the number which had fallen in arrear. Time was 
marked on their calendar stones with as much accuracy as is evinced 
by the modern improvements of astronomy, into two minutes and nine 
seconds in the year. I have seen in tlie Museum of Mexican anti- 
quities belonging to the Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, a beauti- 
ful representation of a large calendar stone to be seen in the city of 
Mexico. 

* If the Carthagenians excelled in navigation, the Mexicans were 
pre-eminent in a sublime pursuit. Nature impresses on the multitude 
of minds a various bias. To the Mexicans 



'' she taught the fabric of the spheres; 

The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, 
The golden zones of heaven." 

How magnificent must have been that temple in Mexico, at whose 
altars five thousand priests officiated ! But the city of Tezcuco, on 
the opposite shore of the lake, was still the seat of a higher advance 
in civilization, than was displayed in Mexico. It was the capital of 
a splendid kingdom of that name. It was the Athens of the West- 
ern World. The King erected a magnificient pile of buildings. It 
extended from East to West 1234 yards, and from North to South 
978. Innumerable were the attractions that met the eye on wander- 
ing through the courts of this majestic structure. 

As walls incrusted with alabasters and richly-tinted stucco, tapes- 
tries of variegated feather work, gardens with baths, and sparkling 
fountains overshadowed by groves of Cyprus and cedar. There na- 
ture seemed ever dressed in her bridal robes ; there light and shade 
combined to perfect the landscape. 



10 



A LECTURE ON THE 



While America excels the Eastern continent in the magnitude of 
its rivers and mountains, it can present also the largest pyramid on 
the globe, — that of Cholula, six miles from Puebla, Mexico. It cov- 
ers 44 acres. It is 180 feet high. Its top includes one acre. On 
this lofty eminence, in days of yore, stood an altar where human vic- 
tims were immolated to appease the wrath of the angry deity, whose 
image stood near. And strange to tell, their bodies were afterwards 
devoured as a religious rite ! 

Ah, could those '• morning stars" that sang together at the birth of 
a fair creation, weep, would they not shed tears on witnessing the 
barbarity of those " who have sought out many inventions." 

In contemplating the Mexicans, we are reminded of the importance 
of revelation ; for though enlightened, yet, " by wisdom they knew 
not God." 

If the Central Americans came from the plains of Shinar, it is 
supposed the Mexicans emigrated from the North-West. Baron Yon 
Humboldt says the Mexicans had many traditions of the fall of man, 
and of the flood, and he thinks they came originally from Aztland, 
lat. 42^ north. 

John Delafield, Jr., Esq., has published an interesting work on the 
antiquities of Mexico. He thinks the Mexicans " emigrated from 
the North, and on their way constructed the various tumuli, embank- 
ments, fossa, (fee, found in Western North America." An " Aztec 
map," some 14 feet in length, accompanies the volume, and explains 
the travels of this race through America. 

Much has been learned in relation to Mexican history, but much 
must remain forever concealed, as the first Archbishop of Mexico 
caused a mountainous pile to be made of the first MSS. of that coun- 
try, and ordered them to be burnt in the market place. Such was the 
loss eiFected by the Omar of the West. 



We know less of the antiquities of Peru than of those farther 
North. The Peruvians may be ranked with the Mexicans in point 
of civilization. [See Appendix.] 

- The antiquities of North America consist of fortifications, mounds, 
pottery, metallic instruments, &c. They must have been left by 
intelligent nations at an early period. This is evident from the re- 
mark of the late President Harrison. He observes that it would 
take the trees growing where a forest was cut down fifty years since, 
five hundred years to equal in height the surrounding woods, and that 
a forest of the largest trees at the mouth of the Great Miami, con- 
sisting of fifteen acres, covers the ruins left by former races. 

There are the remains of a fortification, 60 miles west of Milwau- 
kie, including an area of many acres of land. Large trees are grow- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



11 



ing on the walls. I have a piece of the burnt brick of which they are 
built. This place is called Aztland. 

I have also a piece of a pillar found fifteen feet below the surface 
of the earth in Chautauque county^ N. Y. Nameless are similar 
antiquities the curious and intelligent are bringing to light from va- 
rious parts. 

The people of Ohio, living in a land of monuments, are much in- 
terested in the study of antiquities. 

Mr. Squier, of Chilicothe, has found some remarkable antiquities 
in mounds of that vicinity. He has penetrated a large number of 
the ancient tumuli. He divides' them mainly into |three classes. — 
The first was erected for sacrificial altars, such being found under 
the different strata. The second were built as burial places, and the 
third for places of look-out. 

First Inhabitants of A77ierica. — We will not say, as the Athe- 
nians said of their nation, that the first inhptbitants of America were 
created when the sun was first lit up in the sky ; but we must prcoume 
they early reached this continent from the old world. 

The learned Dr. Clarke says that the continents were once united, 
but that, by the force of winds and waves, the isthmuses were broken 
up and formed into islands along the coasts. Easy, however, is the 
transition from the East to the West, by the way of Bhering's straits, 
when we consider that they are only thirteen leagues wide- 
Adverse winds, also, might have driven the frail vessels of the an- 
cients to the region lying on the gulf of Mexico, and elsewhere. 

But, as tropical animals fotmd in America could not have crossed 
over by Bhering's straits when frozen, they must have come by land 
that once extended from Asia, or Africa to America in the torrid zone. 
Should it be asked why certain animals, as the horse and the cow, not 
found originally on this continent, did not cross by this continuous 
range of lands, we answer, because the original continent was divided 
as possibly in the days of Peleg, (Gen. 10, 25,) before such animals 
had an opportunity to migrate. 

I am inclined to believe that the land that united the now two con- 
tinents, was the Atlantis, spoken of by Plato, Homer and Hesoid. — 
Plato saw an account of this land which disappeared, in the hiero- 
glyphics of Egypt. I saw in the Jesuits' College, Georgetowu, an im- 
portant article on this^ subject. It was stated that there were the re- 
mains of a sunken tract of land once lying between Brazil and Afri- 
ca — that such are seen also in the islands of Cape Yerd and Ascension, 
and others, and in the numerous sandbanks observed by Bauche in 
particular, who sounded that part of the Atlantic with great accuracy. 

Extract of a letter from Rev. Mr. Heyer to Rev. Dr. Van Yrankin, 
New-Brunswick. — " Mr. Davis advocates the theory that I met with 
more than twenty years ago, in ' Calcott on the Deluge,' that America 
was peopled by land soon after the flood ; that at that time America 
was united to the eastern continent, and that in the days of Peleg the 



12 



A LECTURE ON THE 



ecarth was divided. The Hebrew word nepelegeH; divided as by the 
coming in of the sea ; from the Greek word Pelagos, and the Latin 
word Pelagus, being derived. 

^ I think from the plains of Shinar, men and animals diverged in all 
directions. As it is said in Gen. 11, 8, 'So the Lord scattered them 
from thence upon the face of all the earth.' " 

As the Europeans on coming here found none or few animals pecu- 
liar to the eastern continent, I think only a part of the various spe- 
cies preserved by Noah, migrated west. Those left behind ever re- 
mained different from those found in the New World by the Span- 
iards. If this idea is new to others, I hope it may be considered more 
reasonable than the infidel opinion, that men and animals were dis- 
tinct creations here from those of Asia. 

^ I found this idea corroborated by BufFon, as quoted by Clavigero in 
his work on Mexico. 

;;iI^Think you they would have transported venomous serpents from 
the old to the new world ? 

Ogilby, cosmographer to the English sovereign, 1671, thinks that 
men and animals came, immediately after the flood, from Armenia to 
Tartary ; and from the latter place to this continent, by a continuous 
range of land extending from Asia to America by Bhering's straits. 

I think with Georgii Hornii, who published his views, 1629, in a 
Latin book, that the migration to this continent took place immedi- 
ately after the confusion of tongues at Babel. 

By this primitive people, the cities of the South rose probably sim- 
ultaneously with those that adorned the banks of the Nile.^ 

After a brief survey of American antiquities, well may we, like 
the old patriot of Rome, ascend some lofty eminence and look over 
the wide space of desolation ! Where once nations met in the noon- 
day of their glory, now wild beasts roam and venomous serpents wend 
their way. To gaze upon the past, we must cross the melancholy 
flood 

" Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.'' 

So pass away the glories of the world, with man its lord ! There 
is nothing permanent, save in the Spirit's land, and if there be 
any change there, it is Eternity's rich drama of bloom and perfec- 
tion. 
]^ The eyes of mankind, from the time of Pythagoras, have been 

* The traces of an extinct race of men about nine feet in length, are to be found in various parts, 
as in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New York. 

And is it stranere it should have been said iu the sacred volume, " and there were giants in those 
days?" 

The lights of science and revelation commingle, forming one broad stream of light that is not lost 
but amid the radiance that encircles the throne" of the Eternal. 

As to the red men, clouds of obscurity conceal their origin. Mr. Schoolcraft, late Indian Agent, 
thinks they are of Asiatic origin. Many suppose they are the descendants of the Israelites. Vague 
are their own traditions as to their origin. Some Indians say they come from the East, some from 
the West ; some from the North, and some from the South. "Some think they came from beneath the 
earth : other suppose they came from the skies. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 13 

turned to the West, in anticipation that here new discoveries were to 
be made ; and hither were the adventurers at length led. 

Seneca, Diodorus Siculus, Aristotle, as well as others, speak of 
regions west of the Atlantic. 

It is thought Virgil alludes, in the following lines, to places West. 

In speaking of Augustus, he says that — 

" He shall his power to India extend, 
Beyond the annual circle, and beyond 
The sun's long progress, where great Atlas bears, 
Laden with golden stars, the glittering spheres." * 

Fii'st knoicn Discoveries of America. — The discovery of America 
by the Northmen excites a vast deal of curiosity. And is it not a 
laudable curiosity that leads one to ascertain what white men first 
trod regions in which the modest wild flower v/asted its sweetness on 
the desert air ? 

As geography is one "of the eyes of History, it would be well at this 
time to direct the attention to the map of North America, and to those 
of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in particular. 

The Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, have 
lately published an important work. While the contents of this 
massive work are invaluable, its mechanical execution reflects great 
honor on the society that published it. 

This work is called, as translated from Latin, "American An- 
tiquities, or Northern Writings of Things in America, before the time 
of Columbus." 

The determination was formed some years since by the Royal So- 
ciety of Antiquarians in Copenhagen, to publish the authorities on 
which these accounts rest, in the original documents, accompanied 
with full commentaries and illustrations. The text is in the Icelandic 
tongue. 

The inquiry is often made, " Who are tlie Northmen ?" They 
were the descendants of the Scandinavians, who, it is thought, sprang 
from the Thracians mentioned by Homer — a nation now extinct. 
The Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Icelanders, all come 
under the name of the Northmen or Norsemen. Their literature has 
been compared, in extent, to the literary remains of Greece, and 
Latinum. This opens a new fountain of research where the scholar 
may often 

" Return and linger, linger and return." '^• 

This great work contains two Icelandic documents, now for the 
first time published accurately, in a complete form, purporting to be 
histories written by or for persons who discovered and visited the 
North American coast early in the eleventh century, confirmed and 
illustrated by extracts from no less than fifteen other original manu- 

*In a paper read lately before the N. Y. Historical Society, it seems that the inscription on a stone 
found in Western Va., is like that discovered on a monument of Thugga, at Libya. This circum- 
stance corroborates the truth of the report of the Carthagenians, that their people, in early times 
traded with nations west of the Atlantic. 



14 



A LECTURE ON THE 



scripts, in which the facts set forth in these histories are either men- 
tioned or alluded to. The Royal Society has already collected two 
thousand Sagas, or works of Scandinavian or Icelandic history, i^p^s^ 
In this work, in particular, is found Adam of Bremen's account of 
the discovery of America, communicated to him in the eleventh cen- 
tury, by Sweyn Estrythson, King of Denmark. 

1. Are these documents genuine ? 

2. If so, why have they not been heard of before ? 

The work itself contains evidences of the antiquity and authenticity 
of the manuscripts, from which the publication has been made, sufficient 
to raise them above any just suspicion. 

These documents, as Professor Rafn says, have been known to 
Icelandic scholars ; but these have been so few comparatively, and 
the .means of those few so limited, that they have not been able to 
give them a suitable examination, much less to be at the expense of 
publishing them. 

How long did the ancient classics, for instance, lay concealed in the 
monasteries of Europe, for the want of some one to exhibit them to 
the public view ? These Icelandic documents may have been hid in 
like manner, in the libraries of priests. And we may say that the 
society of antiquarians, in Copenhagen, in bringing these documents 
to light, resembles the conduct of the poet laureat, Petrarch, in the 
fourteenth century, who, at his own expense, had the valuable manu- 
scripts of antiquity dragged from the dust of the cloisters, transcribed 
and exhibited to the world. 

Who does not admire the lovely scenery, where the beautiful and 
sublime are blended, displayed in the succession of falls at Trenton, 
N. Y. ? Yet these were concealed for ages, till a master spirit re- 
vealed them to an admirino- world. And does not the raven wini^ of 
night hide the works of art, also, till disclosed in a similar way ? 
The learned of Iceland, though like the generality of poets, poor ; yet 
they were not disposed, like Milton, to sell their manuscripts for a 
paltry sum. 

It is well known the Norweo^ians have Ions; claimed the honor of 
discovering and colonizing America before the time of Columbus. 

Instead of this discovery being a new-fangled theory, as some say, 
there have been several works published in Europe upwards of a cen- 
tury, which speak of these facts. Wormius speaks of this discovery 
in a Latin translation, published in the University of Oxford, in or 
about 1716. In Adam of Bremen's account, published 1629, he uses 
the following striking language: " Non fabulosa opinione sed certa, 
relatione Danorum ;" that is, in a free translation, " This is not a fab- 
ulous opinion, but a true narrative given by the Danes themselves." 
Dr. Franklin, in a letter to a distinguished antiquary formerly of 
Switzerland, says positively, that the Danes came into New England 
before the time of Columbus. Dr. Mather published an account, also, 
of the discovery in 1772. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 15 

The celebrated Dr. Henderson^ who traveled in Iceland, says that 
the fact of this early discovery was well known to the Icelanders — 
that it was authenticated by Northern historians. It is a remarkable 
fact, that Iceland, where these documents relating to the early dis- 
covery were preserved, was the Athens of the North, during the Dark 
Ages. 

During the Middle Ages, the Icelanders were the most intelligent 
people in the North, Even now, as Henderson says, youth can repeat 
passages from Latin and Greek authors, who have never been but a 
few miles from the place of their birth. Truly, the hardy Icelanders 
were our librarians and historians. 

Iceland appears to have been a medium of communication between 
Norway and Greenland — a stepping stone, as it were, from one conti- 
nent to another. 

Iceland, thought by some to be the '' Ultima Thule" of Virgil, was 
discovered by the Norwegians in S61. The oppression of King Har- 
old Harfaga drove them there for an asylum. 

But the restless spirit of the Northmen would not allow them to be 
idle. They made incursions in every direction, and discovered Green- 
land in 984. 

In 9S6, a colony was begun by Eric the Red. This was at length 
destroyed. By the exertions of the Danish Society, the ruins of this 
settlement have been discovered. ' It was located on the West, near 
Cape Parwell. It is seen in the remains of churches and buildings. 

Lief, the son of Eric, commenced a voyage of discovery in the year 
1000. His crew consisted of thirty-five men. Lief was the first to 
introduce missionaries into Greenland. 

After sailing some time southwest, they ^^^ ade land. They anchored 
and went ashore. This place was destituie of gTass, and was covered 
with a slaty rock, which they called Helluland. This is supposed to 
be Labrador. Fishermen and travelers of the present day give a like 
description of that barren region. 

From thence they sailed southwardly ; and after holding on for 
some time, they again made land and went ashore. This country 
was level, had a low coast, presenting, here and there, bluifs of white 
sand, and was thickly covered with wood. This they named Mark- 
land, or Woodland. This is thought to be Nova Scotia. 

Leaving Markland, they sailed south-westerly, with a fair wind, 
two days before seeing land again, when they passed down a promon- 
tory, probably the east side of Cape Cod, stretching east and north ; 
and then turning west between an island (Martha's Vineyard) and 
the main land, they entered a bay (Narragansett Bay) through which 
a river (Taunton River) flowed, when they came to anchor and went 
ashore. Resolving to spend the winter here they called the place 
Leifsbuthir, or place of booths. Here, finding grapes plenty, they 
called the place Vinland or Wineland the good. This land, to those 



16 A^LECTURE ON THE 

coming from the remote North, appeared as nature in the '•' world's 
first spring." 

Early in the season they returned to Greenland. Leif s return be- 
came the principal subject of conversation. 

The next adventurer was Thorwald, his brother. And you will 
observe that he and the other navigators gave the same account of 
places they visited. Were not this the case, who could believe any of 
their reports ? 

Thorwold, thinking the country had not been sufficiently explored, 
set sail in 1002, and Jroceeded to Leifsbuthir, where he lived till 
1004. \ 

In the spring of 1004, he sailed from Leifsbuthir. After passing 
along the shore of the promontory, East and North, they sailed round 
a sharp point of land, called Kjarlanes. This must have been Cape 
Cod. Kjarlanes implies Keel-cape. For Cape Cod at the extremity, 
is in the shape of the keel of ancient vessels, which curved inward. 

These Northmen were peaceable men. They were not like Phaeton, 
who would gladly have seized the reins of the chariot of the sun to 
set the world on fire. It must not be denied, however, that the second 
great navigator, Thorwold, assailed the natives without a cause ; but 
in using the sword he perished by the sword. On receiving a mortal 
wound, he requested that after his death, crosses might be placed at 
either end of his grave. 

The Catholic ministers in giving an account of their first mission- 
ary labors in this country, speak of the custom of the natives in wear- 
ing crosses. Such must have been introduced by the Northmen 
Christians. 

I mentioned this circumstance lately to the librarian of the Amer- 
ican Antiquarian Society, Worcester ; and he said that a cross had 
been sent to that institution by a gentleman of .Ohio. I saw this 
emblem of the Christian faith. It must have been hid from the light 
of heaven for centuries. This silver cross is about two and a half 
inches long. It was found on the breast of a female skeleton, one of 
which was dug from a mound at Columbus, over which a forest of 
trees had grown. On this cross the capital letters I. S. are perfectly 
visible. And what can these letters imply, but the initials of the sa- 
cred name, Iesus Salvator ? 

Who can doubt, then, that the " Sun of Righteousness" cast his 
bright beams on the land west of the dread Atlantic, long before the 
time of Columbus. 

In 1006, Thorfins, or Thorfin commanded one of the three ships 
that came from Iceland to Greenland. He was of royal lineage. 

In the spring of 1007, Thorfin, with three ships and one hundred 
and sixty men," besides cattle and all necessary materials for establish- 
ing a colony, set sail for Vinland. 

They sailed to Helluland or Labrador ; from thence to Markland 
or Nova Scotia : and from thence to Kjarlanes, or 'Cape Cod. Sail- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 17 

ing soiua by the east side of the promontory which terminated at 
Kjarlanes, they passed along beaches or trackless deserts of sand. — 
How descriptive of this bleak and sterile coast ! 

Those who have sailed from Boston to Narragansett Bay, are ready 
to say that I am not drawing an ideal picture. 

Continuing their course they arrived at an island. They called it 
Shaumey. This is supposed to be Martha's Vineyard. ^ Nine men 
went away in one of the ships and never returned. It is said they 
were driven on the coast of Ireland, where they were seized as slaves. 

In the spring Thorfin and one hundred an* fifty others went to the 
main land. They called the place Hop. tho/ residence afterwards of 
King Philip. Here they found large numbers of skrellings or na- 
tives. Thorfin carried on a traffic with them, by exchanging bits of 
colored cloth for furs. In consequence of their frequent attacks, in 
1009 they returned to Greenland. Then, it will be recollected, the 
Northmen had not the use of fire-arms with which to defend them- 
selves a--ainst the assaults of the sava^'es. These lords of the wilds 
had a rude kind of engine, by which they hurled large stones against 
their foes ; and it is possible that the white man would never have 
driven the red man from the Atlantic to the Rocky mountains, but 
for the invention of gunpowder. 

I cannot forbear to speak of the valor of one of this crew of the 
Northmen, a female. When all the rest were disposed to flee before 
the savage foe, she exclaimed: "If I only had a weapon, I ween I 
could fight better than any of you.'' '• Ah ! when we consider the pa- 
triotism' of the females at the seige of Carthage, who cut their locks 
to make ropes for engines of war : and when we recollect the courage 
of Isabella of Castile, who, at the conquest of Grenada, though in ill 
health, led on her veterans to conquest and glory, have we not reason 
to suppose that this Scandinavian was sincere in her declaration ? 
Truly valor and benevolence are but parallel streams in the female 
heart. We would not applaud courage, however, unless under the 
control of a high and holy principle. 

Thorfin 'married Gudrida, the widow of Thorstein, third son of 
Erric. She accompanied her husband to Vinland. Snorre, their son, 
was the first white child born in America. From him descended the 
distinguished associate of Professor Rafn, Finn Magnusen. ^ The 
late great sculptor, Thorwalsden of Denmark, was of this family.— 
Bishop Thulock Rudolfson, was a descendant of Thorfin's, and it is 
supposed that he wrote or compiled these documents. 

Thorfin, the most distinguished of these, returned to Iceland, where 
he ended his days, living in great splendor. 

The editor of the American Antiquities, Professor Rafn, and his 
associate, Professor Finn Magnusen, think that Vinland was situated 
in the east part of Rhode Island, and in the south part of Massachu- 
setts, on or about Narragansett Bay and Taunton River, 

The points in the Icelandic documents alluding to the locality of 



18 A L£CTUS£ 0^' TllZ 

Viuland may be reckoned the (Tcograpliy. Natural History, Astrono- 
mical Phenomena, and vestiii^es of the Residence of Xorthmen in tliat 
place. All these, in the opinion of the editor of the American antiqui- 
ties, point to the head of Narragansett Bay, or Mt. Hope Bay, as the 
locality of Hoj), the central part of Vinland. 

As tlie Royal Society have held correspondence with several learned 
societies in this country for some years, they are well qualified to form 
a judgment on tliis subject. Dr. Webb, now of Boston, formerly Sec- 
retary of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and J. R. Bartlett. 
Es(]., of New- York, liave been very efficient agents in aiding the Royal 
Society in presenting this great work to the world. 

The following letter from the late General Holstein, Professor in 
the " Albany Female Academy," will show the care tjiken to acquire 
information relative to American Antiquities: 

'■ In proof of the great exertions made by the Northern Antiquarian 
Society, in Copeniiagen, to acquire a knowledge of Scandinavian An- 
tiquities in America, 1 hereby state th;u., several years since a letter 
of inquiry, sealed with the seal of the Society, was sent to a profes- 
sional gentleman <>f Geneva; in this State, a translation of whicli i 
made from the Danish tongue." 

I'/tc Geography of Vinland. — Concerning the situation of Hel- 
luland there can be no doubt, ;is it was the lirst land southwest of 
Greenland: where else could this have been, unless the coast of La- 
brador ? 

Markland was situated southwest from Helluland, three days" sail, 
or ohree hundred and sixty English iniles. This i^ supposed to be 
Nov?). Scotia. 

The distance of Nova Scotia, and Ne-.v Brunswick agrees v,^ith tlie 
accoiuit the Icelanders gave of Markland. 

Vinland wa-s situated two days' sail, or about rwo hundred and forty 
English miles to the 30uth\ves"t of Markland ; and if Markland has 
been properly located, must be sought in or near the south part of 
Massachusetts. 

In the Icelandic documents, it is said tiiat Hop, the residence of 
Thortin, was situated on an elevation of land, near a river which 
iiowed south, through a bay into the ocean. From this \hQ land 
stretched east ; and turning north, formed a promontory, which ter- 
minated in a point or cape, which they called Kjarlanes. The 
east side of the promontory was found by long, narrow beaches, 
<r sand hUls. To those who, like myself, have often viewed the 
Atlantic from these sand hills, tliis account csppears peculiarly 
striking. 

Natural History of Vinlaml. — Vinland was remarkable for its 
beautiful vines, maple trees, mai'-^e, and a great variety of wild animals. 



DISCOVERY OF AMSrvICA. 19 

abuundea with fisli and were occasionally visited by 
whales. Birds were numerous. The eider duck was seen about the 
islands in large numbers. 

As to vines, they are said to be numerous even now ; and this is 
more particularly true of the country around Narragansett Bay. And 
was not an island called Martha's Vineyard, on account of the multi- 
plicity of vines growing tliere ? 

The celebrated Bishop Berkeley, who attempted to establish a the- 
ological seminary in Rhode Island, says, in his letter to his friends in 
Europe, that vines were as plenty on the island as in Italy. Gosnald, 
who visited the Elizabeth Isles in 1602, says, that vines were in great 
profusion there. 

In the documents it is said that, in that region, are the red, sugar 
and bird's-eye maple. The Northmen cut down the trees: and, after 
they were dry, they loaded their ships with the timber. It is supposed 
that the bird's-eye variety was made an article of commerce. 

As to Indian corn or maize, it seems our pilgrim fathers found some 
in what is now called Truro, near the end of tlie Cape. It was buried 
in the earth to preserve it. Indian corn has never been found north 
of 45^ north latitude. 

It is needless to remind the reader of the multiplicity of fish that 
still abound in the waters of this region. The sportsman may, at this 
day, tell his friends, in the language of Capt. Smith, of .Jamestown, 
who described this quarter, ^' of the pleasures to be derived from angling 
and crossino; the svreet air, from isle to isle, over the silent streams of 
a calm sea." 

As to whales, I have occasionally seen them spouting around the 
sandy shores of the Cape. 

In regard to the eider duck, in the ] iatin translation it is called 
'* anas mollissima," a duck with the finest feathers. The real eider 
duck of Iceland is, at this day, frequently seen around Martha's Vine- 
yard. Wild fowl must have been numerous there, as an island is still 
called Egg Island, from the quantity of eggs they deposited.'' 

Thorfiii descyibes the Soil and Climate. — The winters of Vinland 
aa-e said to be remarkably mild, but little snow falling, and cattle sub- 
sisting out of doors through the winter. 

This account does not agree with the description of New England 
winters at this time. Still, however, it has been the practice of the 
farmers on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, to let their sheep and 
cattle lie out during the winter. But the cold winters of New Eng- 
land, compared with those of Greenland, are as the mildness of spring. 
They speak, however, of a snowy winter. 

But there have been great changes in the face of the earth and 
in the climate in different ages. Change is the law of nature. Has 

* Mr. Audubon ?ays he has seen, in Labrador, twenty -seven nests of the eider duck within a very 
small compass. 



20 A LECTURE ON THE 

not one of the bright clusters been blotted out from the map of heav- 
en ? Such changes also take place in the face of the earth. 

The Dead Sea was, in early times, sixty miles long. It is now only 
thirty. And even old Ontario and Erie have receded from their for- 
mer bounds, leaving to the present generation a rich tract of land sev- 
eral miles wide, and a beautiful ridge-road. Who does not admire the 
everlasting rocks, rising in stern grandeur on either side the Mohawk, 
at the Little Fcills, N. Y. ? Yet, the lovely vale above must once 
have been the bed of a vast lake. This is manifest from the fact, that 
there are " pot holes " found at an elevation of sixty feet above the 
river, at these falls. 

These circular excavations were made ages since, by the circumvo- 
lution of stones, driven by the rapid descent of the waters. You can 
see a demonstration of this fact, by looking at the high falls of Black 
River, or Trenton. 

And what a mighty labor was that for the waters of this lake to 
have found their way, gradually, through the high and continuous 
wall of o-ranite where now the Mohawk murmurs as it rolls along its 
new channel ! 

Geological facts prove that it was much warmer, formerly, in the 
North, than it is now. 

Large forests once flourished in Lapland. 

It is not to be disputed that, in former ages, Iceland produced tim- 
ber in abundance. Large trees are occasionally found there in the 
marshes and valleys, to a considerable depth in the ground. Seg- 
ments of fossil- trees have lately been exported, in proof of the alleged 
fact. 

It is asserted in the ancient Icelandic records, that when Ingulf, the 
Norwegian, first landed in Iceland, Sr9, he found so thick a cluster of 
birch trees, that he penetrated them with difficulty. 

Henderson, in his travels in Iceland, says that the climate has de- 
teriorated there, from the fact that it was once shaded with forests. 

When the first Norwegian colony settled in Greenland, about 1000 
years ago, they found no difficulty from ice in approaching the coast, 
and a regular correspondence was supported by their people for many 
years. 

Astronomical Phenomena. — The learned editor and his associate 
deduce from the astronomical data, lat. 41^ 2^' 16^', which is the 
latitude of Narragansett Bay, and Mount Hope. There, at the win- 
ter solstice, December 22, the day is nine hours. 

That the Northmen were capable of taking latitudes, is evident from 
the circumstance, that at that period they speak of eclipses, which 
have lately been calculated by Sir David Brewster, and the distin- 
guished Norgewian astronomer, Hanstein, and found correct. 
^ ' I have a fine diagram, in a work just sent me by Professor Rafn, 
Denmark, by which it is seen that the Northmen calculated time ac- 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 21 

eurately. They reached the latitude where, at the winter solstice, the 
sun rose at half past seven, and set at half past four. 

Little can be said of the Vestiges of the Residence of the North- 
men in this country. — There is a large rock at the junction of Smith's 
Creek with Taunton River, with a singular inscription on it. It was 
evidently made with an iron instrument. Passing over the particular 
remarks of the editor on these letters, I would give his supposition as 
to their meaninG:. 



rxxxi M 

t'ORFINS 



The first figure, first line, is 120 ; the last figure, on first line, is 
nam. and means " took possession of ;" the first figure on the second 
line is wanting, and it is supposed it was made as abowe for th. So the 
whole reads : — Thorfins, with 151 men, took possession of this country. 
While Mr. Schoolcraft believes in the discovery of the Northmen, he 
thinks this inscription was left by the Indians. But Professor Rafn 
has deciphered an inscription on the Paradisic rock of Iceland, which 
he says, proves beyond a doubt the European origin of the inscription 
in Massachusetts. 

There are similar inscriptions on rocks in the vicinity of Mount 
Hope Bay. 

The people of the North of Europe were fond of makingi inscrip- 
tions on rocks on the borders of lakes and rivers ; for such are found 
in Norway, Sweden, and Scotland. 

One of these inscriptions, found on a rock in Sweden, has been de- 
ciphered by Professor Finn Magnusen. The inscription relates to a 
battle fought about A. D. 6S0, between the kings of Norway and Swe- 
den. Accounts of this battle ^vere given by authentic historians. In 
a work just issued in Denmark, it is proved that there are several 
other inscriptions found in the neighborhood of Taunton like the one 
above. Also, that the old stone building at Newport, R. I., was erected 
by the Northmen ; for it is exactly like the stone houses of Norway, 
built as baptisteries. The oldest people of Rhode Island know noth- 
ing of the origin of that curiously built edifice. 

Ex-Gov. Gibbs, of R. L, owns it, and believes it was erected by the 
Northmen. Rev. Mr. Kip, of Albany, tells m.e he saw at the residence 
of the Duke of Tuscany, a Swedish coimt, who spake of this building 
as the work of the Northmen. He was perfectly familiar with the 
discoveries of those whom he proudly called his people. It will be 
seen, in viewing a representation of this tower, page 2, that it is of 
the ante-Gothic or Norman architecture, which was adopted in Europe 
from the time of Charlemagne to the 12th century. Mr. K. also 



22 . A LECTURE ON THE 

saw in Italy the famous painting of Leiitze, representing tlie landing 
of the Northmen in America. This large painting has been brought 
to New-Yorkj where I saw it lately among other grand specimens of 
living masters. \ 

The late Noah Webster, Esq., told me he examined the subject 
forty years since, and came to the above conclusion. 

W. H. Prcscott, L. L. D., advances the same opinion in his late 
splendid work on Mexico. 

Bishop Hawks has written a valuable little work on '- Lost Green- 
land,-^ in which he speaks of 17 bishops, who successively presided in 
that country. The colony suddenly disappeared in or near 1614. — 
The present colony was established in 1721. The son of a Danish 
bishop told me lie lately saw the Governor of Greenland, an old school- 
mate of his, who showed him a book published in Greenland, giving 
an account of these discoveries. It had a rude map of Cape Cod and 
Boston Harbor. 

f 

Were the Northmen capable of making discoveries, and of recording 
them ? The rude children of our forests could not perform a work 
so mighty. 

The Roman historian, Tacitus, spake of the invasion of the North- 
men before the Christian era. He says of the Cimbri, that they were 
not a sm^all tribe, but mighty in fame ; that the vestiges of their ancient 
glory still remained in their fortifications ; that no other nation had 
so often given them cause to dread their arms — not the Carthageni- 
ans, or Spaniards, or Gauls. 

In later times the Northmen made incursions upon Germany, 
Prance, England, the Orkney, Farroe and Shetland Isles. 

The French were in such fear of the Northmen, that they inserted 
in their Liturgy, '• A furore Normanorum, libera nos, O Domine."'*' 

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes or Northmen invaded 
England, and seated one of their favorite princes, Canute; on the 
throne of Alfred. 

They were a daring people — the sea was their home — the mount- 
ain wave was the scene of their sport — far and wide did they wander 
without compass to guide. 

Their vessels were built of timber that is now eagerly sought by 
the first maritime nations of the earth. 

A people, some of whose leaders boasted of never having slept by a 
cottage fire, became the dread of Christendom. They ruled the waters 
from the Arctic ocean to the Azores — they passed between the pillars 
of Hercules — they ravaged the coasts of Spain and France — sacked 
the cities of Tuscany — drove the Saracens from Sicily. They desola- 
ted the classic fi.elds of Greece — penetrated the walls of Constantinople. 
Yes, in rescuing the Holy Sepulchre, they led the van of the chivalry 

* From the rage of the Northmen good Lord deliver us. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. ^'^ 

of Europe. Mark their valor and their success : for 100 Nortlmieii ' 
knichts, with one aid or squire each, drove ten thousand Saracens from 
Sicfly. Scott gives a beautiful description of this remarkable people, 
in speaking of the Western Isles : 

■' Thither came in limes afar 
Stern Lochliu's sons of roving war ; 
The Northmen, trained to spoil and blood, 
Skilled to prepare the raven's {bf)d ; 
Kinss of the main, their leaders brave,^ 
Their barks the drag«^ns of the wave." 

In describing king Harold's it is said : 

•^ And dragon's heads adorn the prow of gold." 

Seest thou the tiny fleet of some school-boy, launched on an isola- 
ted sheet of water. And such were the grcnxtest ^f'^'l^' 
famous nations of antiquity, compared w^th those ox the Northmen 

The present illustrious Queen of England, is a direct descendant 
of the Northmen. It will be recollected that Rollo the Norman^ 
invaded France in 912, and enthroned himself m the x^olth. _ In 
mmwk^ of Norm'andy conquered England. These sovereigns 
were Northmen, and from their family the pride and glory ot (^reat 

Britain descended. , ..^ j at -^ 

At the beginning of the eleventh century, the Danes and Nor- 
wegians were converted to Christianity, and thereby !:eceived a 
new impulse, that led them to extend the blessings of the Gospcl. 
And who ]3ut this people could ever have established missions m 
Greenland. 

What shall we say of the ability of the Northmen to record inci- 

''"'in the year 1000° wi their conversion to Christianity, they adopted 
the Roman alphabet. This was their Augustan age. The «"«* «* 
the Icelanders for learning, is seen in the condnct of ^M ;^«^ 
supreme legislator, who, in 93-5, undertook a voyage to Norway, m 
his sixtieth year, to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the legal 
customs and institutions of the parent country. 

In Iceland the learned were called Skalds and Sagamen 

The former were poets and historians. Skalds denote smoothers 

and polishers of language." , j . -i i,„f *i,» «iVaM<i 

The Sagamen recited in prose, with greater detail, what the fekaWS 

''''B^the recUrtions of the Skalds the real and traditionary history 
of the country was transmitted from generation to generation. 

Memory is, perhaps, the most improvable faculty of our nature. 
Uenrived of books, it depends upon it| own resources. Its strength 
is seen in the following instance : An Icelandic Skald sang sixty dif- 



24 A LECTURE ON THE 

ferent lays in one evening, before King Harold Sigurdson ; and being- 
asked if he knew any more, declared that these were only the half he 
could sing. 

Their traditionary histories were written down and preserved. 

As poetry is among the antii^uities of all nations, the events it 
records have ever been preserved by the recitations of Skalds, Min- 
strels or Bards. 

And whom does the conqueror of Wales cut off from the land ? 
Does not Edward the First of England destroy the minstrels of 
Wales, lest they should, by their recitations, awaken that spirit of 
liberty in the breasts of the vanquished, which would lead them to 
throw off the yoke of the British monarch ? 

These Skalds were distinguished men- — the companions of kings. 
They sometimes were kings, as in the instance of Regnar Lodbrok. 

The Sagamen made their recitations in public and private, at con- 
venient opportunities. 

If Augustus delighted to have Virgil and Horace on either hand, 
so the Scandinavian monarchs rejoiced to have Skalds and Sagamen 
in their presence. 

At solemn feasts, the services of these men were required. 

Sosmund, in 1056, collected the different poems relating to the my- 
thology and history of the North. The collection was called the 
'• Poetic Edda.^' He was a man of learning, having been educated at 
the Universities of Germany and France. 

He performed for the ancient poems the same office which is said 
to have been done by the ancient Greek rhapsodist who first collected 
and arranged the songs of his predecessors, and reduced them to one 
continuous poem, called Hom.er's Iliad. 

Snorre Sturlson, judge of Iceland, was the most distinguished 
scholar of his day. His principal work was the Prosiac Edda ? It 
treats in particular of Scandinavian mythology. He lived in 117S. 
His bath still attracts the attention of the traveler. The aqueduct 
of it is five hundred feet long, and is composed of hewn stone, finely 
united by cement. The reservoir is similarly constructed, and will 
contain thirty persons. The water was supplied from one of their 
warm springs. 

The general characteristics of the Icelandic tongue are copiousness, 
energy and flexibility to an extent that rivals every modern language 
and which enables it to enter into successful competition with the 
Greek and Latin. 

Were not the Icelanders then capable of recording the events in- 
cident to a voyage of discovery. 

Tha internal evidences found in these documents are in favor of 
their authenticity. 

Besides there are in existence a series of works from the time 
when these voyages purport to have been made, down to the present 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 25 

time, whicn nave been preserved, and which make mention of these* 
"discoveries. 

Distinguished men who have had superior opportunities of ascer- 
taining the merits of this question, have come to the conclusion that 
the descendants of the Scandinavians were the discoverers of Amer- 
ica, prior to the time of Columbus. Among these are Dr. Forster, 
Mr. Wheaton, our late Minister at the Court of Berlin, and Baron 
Von Humboldt, also of the above city.* 

Besides Adam of Bremen's account of the discovery of America, this 
great work speaks of Bishop Eric's voyage to Yinland, in 1121. Al- 
though Thorfin's men were driven away at first by the natives, yet it 
is reasonable to suppose, that they at length returned and formed col- 
onies in this quarter, together with -others who visited America, as 
named in the Icelandic MSS. 

If voyages were made, from time to time, to different parts of 
America, by the Northmen, is it not reasonable to suppose that some 
parts of our country were inhabited by them for a long time, and that 
Bishop Eric visited Vinland to perform Episcopal duties, and that the 
Northman left evidences of their arts, in the antiquities I will briefly 
name? 

How fond is man to linger around mouldering ruins — to fix the 
eye on the mutilated column overgrown with ivy ! But are there 
not antiquities as worthy as those of art ? I mean those of our own 
species. 

I shall make a remark on a human skeleton I saw, not long since, 
at Fall River, in the vicinity of Narragansett Bay. 

I had an extensive view of the region around Mount Hope, lying 
on the west of Mount Hope Bay. How accurately is the scenery 
portrayed in the Icelandic documents ! 

A skeleton was dug up a few years since in that place. It had a 
breast-plate or medal hanging down its neck, thirteen inches long, and 
six in width at the top, and five at the bottom. It had also an or- 
nament of fillet work around its body, four and a half inches wide. 
These ornaments are made of brass, or, as Dr. Webb says, of bronze. 
A knowledge of the use of this artificial metal implies a considerable 
advance in the arts. 

I witnessed lately an object of interest in the state of New- York. 

Not lono- since, a large oak tree, cut down at Lyons, was taken to 
Newark : and on savvying it, there were found near the centre the marks 
of an axe. On counting" the concentric circles, it was discovered that 
four hundred and sixty had been formed since the cutting was made. 

♦ In a work sent from Denmark are the folio%ving important remarks :—Ale>:o.nder Von Hum- 
boldt, who of all moJern travelers ha? thrown the qroatest light on the physical circumstances, first 
discovery and early history of Anrerica, has admitted that the Scandinavian Northmen were the true 
original discoverers of the New World. He has also remarked, th.atthe information which the public 
as yet possesses of that remarkable epoch in the ^liddle Ages, is extremely scanty ; and he has 
expressed a wish that the Northern Literati would collect and publish all tue accounts relatii;g to 
that subject." ' 

The Society of Xorthern Antiquarians has complied with his request, ;n publishing the great wor 
I before mentioned. 



26 



A LECTURE ON THE 



it is well known that a circle is the growth of a year. But the most 
striking circumstance iS; that this large cavity, now visible, was made 
by an edged tool. The rude stone axes of the present race of Indians 
could never have made clefts so smooth as those I saw in the block at 
the hotel of Gen. Barney, at Newark. I have a report of a Historical 
Society in Ohio, describing a similar cutting made with a metallic axe 
about three hundred and hfty years ago. 

On further examination, I presume this skeleton, whose head is dif- 
ferent from that of the natives, Avas a Northman; and that the cut- 
tings in this tree were made by axes wielded by the descendants of the 
Northmen. For I find that the Icelandic MSS. speak of breast-plates 
worn by the Northmen : and as to their axes, it is stated that the na- 
tives tried them on wood, and afterwards on stone ; but the instruments 
used by the former to cut down maple trees, could not withstand the 
use made of them by the latter, upon stone. If it be asked, what has 
become of the Northmen, and where are their descendants ? Ave an- 
swer : Like the mighty master-builders of the splendid cities of Cen- 
tral America, and of the fortifications, mounds, &c., of the United 
States, they have passed into oblivion. Nations seem to vanish in a 
day :— like the 300,000 inhabitants of Moscow, who left the city in- 
stantly on the approach of the mad Corsican, 

There have been discovered beyond latitude (KF, in* Greenland,, 
upwards of 500 people, resembling those in the north of Europe, prob- 
ably descendants of the Northmen. 



. An important inquiry arises : Was Columbus aware of the discov- 
ery of the Northmen ? From a letter pi^eserved by his son, it appears 
he visited Iceland in 1477. It is thought by the Danes that he there 
obtained a knowledge of the discovery of Vinland. Allowing this to 
be the case, it is* singular he should never have given any intimation 
of such knowledge. 

Instead of walking through Spain, leading his son by the hand, 
would he not at once have rushed into the presence of the sovereigns, 
and acquired patronage, wealth, and honor, by telling them that the- 
obscure Icelanders had discovered tlie region he wished to unfold ? 

His greatest enemies never accused him of having reached the New 
World by information received from Iceland. 

But as Columbus was rather artful, he might, from particular 
motives, have concealed this knowledge from the observation of man- 
kind. 

After all, let not the circumstance of this prior discovery, cause, in 
our view, the laurels given to Columbus to wither on his brow. Let 
us ever honor him for his perseverance and his virtues. 

Let not Leif and his associate Northmen deprive him of what the 
voic9 of nations has awarded, the merit of having given, not to Fer- 
dinand and Isabella only, but to successive generations, a New Worlds 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 27 

Iceland, though but a speck on the bosom of the Northern Oceacy 
is not unworthy our notice. Though dark to the superficial obser- 
ver, yet it shines with a lustre brighter than the flame rising from its 
volcano. It is the light of knowledge. That obscure island is re- 
markable for the attention paid to learning. Even many among the 
common class pursue the higher branches of study. Their locg 
nights are enlivened by the custom of every member of the family 
gathering around the bright lamp, wliile one reads for the amusenent 
and instruction of all. 

The sources of happiness are not, like those of mighty rivers, hid 
from the view of most people. They are accessible to all. The Ice- 
landers, living in a remote island, and cut off from the privileges that 
milder climates present, are naturally led to look for happiness in the 
pursuit of knowledge. 

If the celebrated Pliny could say his books were sovereign consol- 
ers of sorrow, cannot the Icelander also declare that when mountain 
waves lash the shores, he can find pleasure in the pursuit of those stu- 
dies that mend the heart and enlighten the mind ? Ah ! yes, fondness 
for books will create an artificial summer in the depths of the most 
gloomy season. 

The sunny Italy may boast of the beauteous tints that flush her 
skies ; but after all, her effeminate inhabitants may be destitute of 
that happiness enjoyed by those who live where winter reigns uncon- 
trolled most of the year. 

The benevolence of Deity is seen in the contentedness felt by those 
who live in the higher latitudes, where, as a writer said of countrieg^^ 
north of the Alps, Nature seems to have acted the part of step- 
mother. 

What a contrast between the condition of the Icelanders and that 
of their forefathers ! They were the worshippers of the god Wodin. 
And what were his attributes ! He was styled the Father of Carnage ! 
His greatest favorites were such as destroyed most of their fellow- 
creatures in the field of battle. 

But the Prince of Peace Ivas broken the sceptre of the Father of 
Carnage. The benign influence of his Gospel is seen in all the de- 
partments of Government. Observe its eflects as seen in the differ- 
ence between the feelings of Lodbrok, a Northman King and Skald, 
and those evinced by Peace Makers in Europe and America ! Those 
who, when storms are rising in the political horizon, instead of '^ let- 
ting slip the dogs of war," do all in their power to avert the threat- 
ened dangers. Lodbrok in his death-song says : " Eight Earls graced 
my Dwina^s mouths. The crimson sweat of death poured on the sul- 
len sea." Yes, he exults in seeing his laurels dyed in the blood of 
his fellow creatures. But the lovers of peace gaze in rapture on those 
of the Great Pacificators of both continents while verdant under a 
clear sky. 



2S A LECTURE ON THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 

Who would not award to such heroes rather than to Augustus 
CaDsar, a place among the stars ? (See Georgica, B. I. 34.) 

This, as Cicero said of Rome, is the glory of all lands. 

" Wisdom and knowledge are the stability of our times. All classes 
bcome sensible that knowledge is the guardian of property. In every 
place they eagerly seek after that wisdom which, as Isocrates says, is 
the only imperishable treasure. Who can stay the progress of knowl- 
edge ? You might as well think of ' binding the sweet influences of 
Pleiades, or of loosing the bands of Orion,' "* as to attempt to oppose 
the march of mind. To swell the tide of improvement, it is pleasing 
to reflect that men of the first talents are engaged ; and thai;, through 
the medium of those lectures, which, if they are not the fountains of 
knowledge, are important guides to them. 

A word in praise of the Scandinavians. Like the patriarch, they 
went in search of a region, they knew not where. We praise them 
for their courage, we applaud them for their zeal, we respect them for 
their motives ; for they were anxious to enlarge the boundaries of 
knowledge. They reached the wished-for land, 

" Where now the western sun ^ 
O'er fields and Hoods, o'er every living soul, 
Biffuseth glad repose." 

The Scandinavians have opened to view a broad region, where smi- 
ling Hope invites successive generations from the Old World. 

Such men as Caesar or a Tamerlane, conquer but to devastate 
countries. Discoveries add new regions of fertility and beauty to 
those already known. And are not the hardy adventurers, ploughing 
the briny wave, more attractive than the troops of Alexander march- 
ing to conquer the world, with plumes waving in the gentle breeze, 
with ?.rms glittering in the sunbeams? Who can tell the benefits 
the former confer on mankind ? 

'•' To count them all demands a thousand tongues, 
A throat of brass and adamantine lungs." 

* As Pleiades appear in Spring, and Orion m W- inter ; Patrick gives the following exposition to the 
above passage, from Job, 38, ch. 31, v. 

"Canst thou forbid the sweet flowers to come forth, when the seven stars rise in the Spring, or 
open the earth for th.e husbandman's labor, when the w inter season at the Orion, ties up his hands " 



APPENDIX. 



29 



A P P E I D I X. 



Since the above was written, the following important facts have 
been obtained. 

Mr. Schoolcraft thinks, as stated in his address before the Historical 
Society, N. Y., that the pyramids and mounds of America compose a 
form of architecture ecjually ancient ; which can be traced back to the 
period of the original dispersion of mankind. He asks, who shall 
touch the scattered bones of aboriginal history with the spear of truth 
and cause the skeleton of this ancient society to arise and live ? — 
There is no evidence — not a particle — that the tribes came to the 
continent after the Christian Era. He observes also that there ^ are 
evidences of civilized people who lived in Michigan and Indiana 
before the growth of the forests that cover these states. 
'- Dr. Dickeson, of Mississippi, has been penetrating a large number 
of mounds in the south-western states. In these he found interesting 
relics, such as mica mirrors, silver and copper ornaments, beads of 
jasper, agate, &c., similar to those found in Mexico. Several pearls 
of great beauty and lustre, an inch in diameter, have been found. By 
an examination of skulls. Dr. D. hasjiiscovered that dentistry had 
been extensively practised by this ancient people, as plugging the 
teeth, and inserting artificial ones, wjs common. 

The following are the dimensions of one of the largest buildings in 
Palenque : — 

Base 310 by 260 feet— 40 feet high. Building 280 by ISO feet— 
25 feet high. The piers have stuccos, finely painted. Ilie paintings 
are like the frescoes in Italy. 

In addition to the valuable essay I heard Mr. Squier read in New 
York, I lately saw the following remarks on his discoveries, in Ohio. 
from the New- York Courier. 

"His specimens surprised the [Ethnological] Society, as they fur- 
nish evidence of a skill and taste in sculpture, far surpassing anything 
exhibited by the existing Indian tribes. He found the figures of 
about 100 animals, of different species in all the departments of Zool- 
ogy, formed with such accuracy, as to be readily distinguishable, and 
many of them shaped with almost perfect accuracy, and finished in 
detail, as if by superior workmen, showing a liveliness of expression, 
which would lead to the conclusion that they were the portraits of 
birds, beasts, fish and reptiles." 

Mr. S. is inclined to think the people who left these remains of an- 
tiquity, emigrated to Mexico. 



In regard to the Northman discovery, tlie following from the Dublin 
Evening Post, speaks the opinion of distinguished writers relative to 
the Danish work. 

This is a very moble, a very curious, and in point of Iiistorical in- 
terest a most important volume. This publication has put the mat- 
ter beyond a dou])t : 

I saw in the State Library, at Albany, the History of New York, 
by^oulton and Yates, in which it is fully acknowledged. 

In the Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark, is to be seen a large piece 
of a church bell, found in ( Greenland. It was among the antiquities 
left by the Northmen who lived there before the days of Columbus. 

A distinguished Geologist from Denmark has lately found the re- 
mains of an Icelandic city in Brazil. He discovered Punic [nscrip- 
tions on flagstones. Above all, he found a statue of the Northman 
god of thunder, Thor, with all his attributes, the magic girdle and 
hammer. 

The following is from the beautiful ballad of Professor Tjongfellow 
on the "Skeleton in Armor.'' found at Fall River: — 

" Speak ! speak ! thou feari'ul guest, 
Who, with thy hollow breast, 
Still ill rude armor drest, 

Coniest tn dauut me! 
Wrapped not in Eastern bahns. 
But with thy Heshless palms 
trtretched as if asking alms, 

Why do>t thou haunt me .''' 

How true it is, that wherever the surilight falls, there appear the 
temple, the priest and the altar. If in Greece and Rome we see a 
Yen us smiling in marble, or a Pluto frowning, for such were their 
Deities, so in Central America we see, apparently, a representation 
of different Gods, as at Copan, Palenque, and Chi Chen. In Copan 
are obelisks bearing on four sides beautiful hieroglyphics and iumges 
of gods in basso relievo, while before such are altars (3 feet square and 
4 feet high, having on their upper surface, like characters with those 
on the stone obelisks. On these altars it is supposed human victims 
were offered. 

In Palenque different gods were probably worshiped. Represent- 
ations of such are found on the walls of splendid buildings. See 
page 7. 

In Chi Chen they must have worshiped " gods many," as is evident 
from the appearance of the idrds brought from those ruins by Mr. 
Norman, and presented by him to the New- York Historical Society. 
They are now to be seen in the Museum of that Society, at the New- 
York University. 

In attending one of the meetings, lately, of this distinguished In- 
stitution, I heard an interesting letter read, from a gentleman who has 
been traveling in Yucatan. He said much about the beauty and 



APPENDIX HI 

splendor of tlie riiiPxS, and thinks many cintiquities remain unfolded. 
Buildings have lately been discovered that vrere buried by the na- 
iiiyes, in which were rooms made of hewn stone, and whose walls were 
adorned with beautiful figures, and paintings as fresh as though late- 
ly executed- 

Ah ! had we power to read the Monumental History of Central 
America, we might learn where once were forums in which a Demos- 
thenes or a Cicero declaimed against the wiles and treachery of a 
Philip or a Cataline ; v/here were groves as beautiful as that in which 
Plato taught, and where principles were promulgated, superior only 
but by those advanced by Him wlio spake as never man spake. As 
it is, we can only behold the fragments of a former world. 

Although the explorations of Peru have not been as extensive as 
those of Central America, yet enough has been discovered to convince 
■us that its early inhabitants were highly civilized. 

The late traveL-i of Dr. J. J. Yon Tshudi develop some interesting- 
facts on this subiect. 

Magniiicent was tlie temple of Pacchacamac. The meaning of 
this name of the principal Deity is, He mho 'made the morld out of 
nothing. He was the God of the Yuncas. In the temple were 
•images worshiped by the people. These were destroyed by the 
Incas, who dedicated the temple to the worship of the Sun. Vir- 
gins of royal birth were appointed to minister within its sacred 
walls. In 1534, Pizarro took possession of the temple and murdered 
the virgins. 

Alas ! while there Nature unbosomed her every grace to win man 
'to deeds of mercy, the invaders, in the name of Christianity, commit- 
ted acts at w^hich humanity shudders, and from which modesty veils 
lier face. 

This temple stood on a hill upward of 500 feet high. It was sur- 
rounded with a lofty wall tliat rose in the form of an amphitheatre. 
The hill is now covered with brick. 

The road leading from Cusco to Quito, and tjn-ough 'the empire, 
was the finest in America ; it was 2.5 or 30 feet wide, and paved with 
large Hat stones. 

Amid the ruins were colossal palaces, fortresses, and temples. The 
walls of these buildings were made of square stones, so finely cut that 
when united; a piece of paper could not be put between them edge- 
wise. How stones could be wrought so beautifully, in Peru fis well 
as farther North, without the aid of iron, is a mystery.' Possibly the 
inhabitants had the art, as well as the Egyptians, of tempering copper 
.-so as to cut through solid granite. 

Judge Sackett, of Chautauque Co., New-York, gave me the follow- 
ing important facts. They fully corroborate my previous statements 
in regard to an early civilization. 

^^ In ] 832, a white oak tree, near 4 feet in diameter, was cut on the 
•Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, Erie Co., New- York ; it was sawed 



32 APPENDIX. 

in a mill I own. On sawing it, an ase was found near the heart and 
about 12 feet from the ground. It was overgrown with about 300 
circles. Among the ruins of a neighboring fortification were found 
the remains of human skeletons of 8 or 9 feet in length. The jaw 
bone of one was so large that it would set over the face of a common 
sized person, and had 36 teeth." 

Among the important works lately sent me by the politeness of 
Professor Rafn, Denmark, is a memoir of Einar Sockeson. He was 
son of a distinguished ruler, who lived at the residence of Eric the 
Red, the discoverer of Greenland. At the father's request, in 1123, 
Einar went to Norway to procure a Bishop. He obtained Arnold, the 
tirst Bishop of Greenland. 

Among the specimens of antiquity sent m.e from Denmark is the 
representation of a church, built by the Northmen in Greenland be- 
fore the time' of Columbus. It is built with stone walls, between 4 
and 5 feet thick. It has also an arclied window, similar to those in 
the Old Tower of Newport, R. I. A particular account of this 
church was given by Captain G. W." Grach, R. N. The Danes have 
found with certainty the remains of 5 out of 12 churches, left by the 
Northmen in the Eastern settlement of Greenland. 

Ah ! could Columbus rise from the sleep of centuries, and behold, 
not the Eastern part of China, which, to tlie day of his death, he sup- 
posed he had discovered, how great would be his astonishment in see- 
ing a new Continent, once inhabited by enlightened nations. VYould 
he not exclaim. Here was the primal land where once Eden displayed 
her lovely groves, enlivened by birds of every plumage, where crystal 
fountains gushed amid shrubs of the deepest verdure, and where How- 
ers of ail hues emitted their sweet perfumes. 

It will be recollected that Columbus believed that the Garden of 
Eden was in Para, South America, the only part of the Continent he 
discovered, and where Hesperian fruits, if found, were found there 
only. 



i^^^^s^^^^ 



m 

rM 
Wi 

II 

m 



^1 






From M'ljor Gen. Jesvp. 

I have atteiuied ibe Lectures of the Rev.M{. Davis, on the Discovery of America, by 
the Norihmen, with much pleasure and profit ; and I respectfully recommend him to the 
patronage of teachers, and the public generally. THOMAS JESUP. 

Washington City, March 23, 1S42. 



From the President and Professors of Columbia College, D. C 
The undersigned cordially join in the recommendation above given. 
Coi.LKGE Hir.L, D. C, March 25, 1840. ^S. CHAPIN, 

Wx\I. RUGGLES. 
J. C. B. CHAPLIN. 

Philadelphia, Dec. 7, 1830. 
SjR. — I attended, a few days since, your Lecture in this city, "On the Dis-coveries by 
the Norihmen." and derived very great pleasure from the same. 

Being by birth a Northman, and having for some years studied many of the old Ice- 
landic documents concerning this interesting subject, I hesitate not to say that your Lec- 
ture is compiled with much care and labor, and cannot but be interesting and instructive 
to all persons. Your obedient servant, 

CD. ARFWEDSON, U. S. Consul at Stockholm. 



From Mrs. Willard, of Troy. 
Mr. Davis has delivered an interesting and instructive Lecture relating to the hi^tory 
of our country, to the meii>bers of the Troy Female Seminary. 



From the Boston Daily Advertiser, Oct. 16. 

The Lectures now bein^ delivered in this city by the Rev. A. Davis, on " Tiie Discov- 
ery of the American Continent by the Northmen," and on the '' Ruins of Central Ameri- 
ca," are exceedingly interesting. I had the pleasure last evening of being an auditor of 
the first Lecture, and was, in common with many others, highly gratified. I trust that 
Mr. Davis may meet with that success which he deserves. He has evidently bestowed 
great labor and investigation upon this interesting subject, of which he has made himself 
perfectly master. Those who attend Mr. Davis' Lectures will find ihemselves well repaid 
lor the time they may spend, by the instruction and pleasure which they cannot fail to 

receive. * 

From Professor Dean. 

~ have read with much pleasure the R^v. Mr. Davis' printe 



the Ruins and the Discovery of the Northmen of this Continet 
possessed of much interest, and in the Lecture mikh rcsc?' 
whole treated in a very attractive manner. 
ALi-.ANY, March 31, 1842. 



n^h r 
hniXkc 



-.ecture on the subject n ' 
The subjeci ilstif is 
;h is evidenced, and the 
AMOS DEAN. 



From the Distinguished Ormlkologist. 

Buffalo, N.Y.. Aug. 1. 

I have read the "Antiquities of Central America, and the discovery of New-Englaud 
by the Northmen five hundred years before Columbus," by A. Davis, Esq., with extreme 
pleasure and satisfaction ; and I feel much indebted to that learned gentleman for all 
that he has said on this most interesting subject, in his memorable lecture above men- 
tioned, and I trust that it will be as highly appreciated by all who may peruse it as by 
myselt. I take this opportMuity to offer to Mr. Davis my sincere thanlcs for his goodness 
to me and have great pleasure in subscribing myself his friend and respectful humble ser- 
vant. ' JOHN J. AUDUBON. 

To A. Davis, formerly Chaplain of the Senate, Sec, N.Y, 

From J. M'Caul, D.D., L.L.D. 

Kings Coi.legk, Toronto, May 30, 184.3, 
My Dear Sir, — I have read with great interest your brief condensation of the proofs 
■which may be advanced of the discovery of America before the voyages of Columbus 
and the evidence afTordcd by the ruins, recently discovered in the Southern part of this 
continent, of the existence of a powerful and civilized nation, previous to the arrival of 
the Spaniurds. 

The subject is not one merely calculated to excite the attention and reward the re- 
searches of antiquarians, but is also capable (as per testimonials fully demontrated) of 
being rendered highly attractive in a popular lecture. 

Believe me, yours faithfully, 
Rev. A. Davis. JOHN M'CAUL. 






^G/^ 



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